IWSG

This month I'm studying up on the art of novel writing. I have been struggling through a novel that I started last summer. I started it for Camp NaNoWriMo in July, hated the whole process and gave up after the month was up. I went back to it in October, and finished a first draft in December. Then, I hated it even more. It's not that the idea is bad, or the writing is bad, it's just the story. I'm all over the place with it. I really want to write this novel, but there was something fundamentally wrong with it.

I have been very reluctant to take outside advice on writing. "No one can tell me how to write my story", you know the whole deal. I knew there were things to learn, but I wanted to learn it by osmosis, I guess. Well, that wasn't working this time, and I knew I needed some help.

So, I bought Writing the Breakout Novel, by Donald Maass. I'm about half-way through it now, and I'm finding it very helpful. The introduction is hilariously out of date (back in 2000 he didn't have much faith in e-publishing), but the actual tips for writing so far have helped me to figure out where I was going wrong.

I'm also thinking of using Susan Kaye Quinn's process for brainstorming a book. I think it will help a lot. I'm not one for plotting out a book from beginning to end, but her process seems simple and vague enough to keep me from getting overwhelmed on details.

Between the book and the brainstorming, I hope to be on track again next month.

Comments

Those thoughts are so familiar! I'm reading a book on mystery writing and whenever I get to the "now you try" parts, I have been saying no. Maybe by the time I get to the end of the book, I'll be ready to do the exercises. Best of luck to you in your writing this year!

I have to outline a bit before I can start just to know where I am heading. The thing is not to be married to that outline. I love it when the story surprises me with something I never saw coming. An outline just keeps me on task without taking away from my creativity.

Welcome back to Achievements/Goals. I missed several postings, because my laptop crapped out on me. I had been making it work for almost a year after my 90 pound dog jumped on it, breaking a hinge, and cracking the bevel around the screen; but every time I moved the stupid thing the the lid moved a little, eventually causing chunks of plastic to break off and about a third of the screen to go black. When faced with the decision of whether to repair it or replace it, I went the repair route which took three weeks.

Hey, did you know that Toshiba no longer makes computers? Well, I didn't until I went to get mine fixed. Apparently, replacement parts have to be hand delivered from Japan, because that's how long it felt like I was sans laptop.

Hey, do you know how much it costs to replace basically the entire lid of a Toshiba laptop? Neither did I until I had to choke back the tears as I handed my credit card to the Geek Squad guy.

Good Evening. I missed some time, yes. I got busy with life, but I hope to be back on track. Without further ado, here's what has happened over the past couple of weeks:

Achievements I've been slowly working my way through Camp NaNoWriMo this month. I fell of the wagon pretty hard after four days, but with my low word count goal, it has been fairly easy to make up the lost time. I think I'll be able to finish within goal.I did a reading at my writing group two weeks ago. I got positive comments all around, which surprised me, because I was pretty sure that the best thing I could bring to the table was mediocre. I'm still not ready to accept positive feedback. That's the weirdest thing with me. I will absolutely accept criticism without fail, but give me a compliment, and I'm sure you're "just being nice."GoalsPretty much the same as they have been. I'm trying to just get myself on a baseline of competence before trying anything new.Continue to …